Automotive vehicles typically have a body structure surrounding various compartments, including the engine compartment, the passenger compartment, and a trunk or bed area. Attached to the body within these compartments are assorted vehicle components, most notably seats. A common means for attaching the seats to the body in many vehicles is a bolt which runs through apertures penetrating the seat pedestal, the floor pan, a reinforcement, and into a weld nut on the exterior of the reinforcement or floor pan. The apertures are made large enough so that the clearance between the bolt and the aperture allows easy insertion of the bolt during assembly. In addition, some vehicles have multiple apertures in the floor pan, all of which are not used, to accommodate several seat configurations for a given model vehicle.
Unless properly sealed, such penetrations in the floor pan and underbody reinforcement provide a potential path for dirt, dust and moisture to enter the passenger compartment. Butyl has been used for obstructing the bolt apertures by dapping a portion thereover and shooting the bolt therethrough, for example with a torque wrench. However, inconsistent application of butyl to the aperture may interfere with the amount of torque delivered from the wrench, potentially resulting in varying connection of the seat pedestal to the floor pan. Additionally, butyl does not reseal upon removal of the bolt, such as when the seats are configured differently after initial installation.
Other body aperture sealing means include a membraneless foam gasket place around the aperture, but such a device may be easily displaced during seat installation resulting in additional assembly time and expense.